(written by Holden Carson)

“For I am confident of this very thing, that HE who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

My mind was boggled by how all the places I went, all the houses I saw, all the apartment buildings that were in the Czech Republic, contained people whose lives have gone on LONG before I arrived in the Czech Republic and will continue long after I have left. God has known and seen them since they existed…I didn’t know they existed until a few weeks ago. The vastness of God has become very real (although still intangible to me) through this experience — all those people and God has been working on drawing them to Himself. All we did in the Czech Republic was join the movement that God is already orchestrating.

In talking to the Czech students and leaders God allowed me to this trip, I often heard about what other things had been going on in their lives and the events/decisions that brought them to camp or the places I met them. Maybe a conference, maybe choosing to take time off of work to serve the students, maybe being deeply connected with the local (Czech) church for years. It wasn’t me that brought them to camp: God did. And maybe the advertisement of talking to an American was something God used to entice them to come, but it was NOT me.

In John chapter 5 after Jesus healed a crippled man on the sabbath. In response to the Jewish leaders who were persecuting Him, “…He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.””(John‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬) God has already been working in the Czech Republic. I would be wrong to think that I am the one who is making a difference in the Czech Republic. God is the one who works.

God begins and completes the work. I’m humbled that He used us across the world in work He is doing. I’m astonished by how He has continued to work here in Arizona while I’ve been gone. Our God is awesome and amazing! Jesus we praise You for how You have been working and are continuing to work!